With central law being abandoned, the BJP government in Haryana is looking to ease its land acquisition policy. It is proposing changes under which reluctant landowners, whose land is being taken, will be given land of similar value in the same district.

The state plans to amend the Land Consolidation Act to pave way for speedy and mutually beneficial land acquisition rules, based on recommendations of a committee of senior bureaucrats and legal experts. Chief minister Manohar Lal had constituted the expert panel to come up with a viable alternative to make land acquisition friendlier. The committee has submitted its report last week.

Currently, if the state intends to acquire a large contiguous chunk of land for development activities, it has no option but to initiate acquisition proceedings. These are not taken kindly by the land owners, who always approach the courts.

It felt that offering land of the same value in the same district would convince the landowners to agree to give up their existing land. This solution is expected to put an end to adversarial litigation, undue delay in acquisition of land and unrest.